The Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to continuing downward pressure on electricity prices was reflected in ABS statistics recently which showed a 4.8 per cent drop in prices in Brisbane in the last quarter.

This is in stark contrast to a 1.8 per cent increase recorded nationally in the latest Consumer Price Index figures. These figures very clearly show that our measures to ease the pain for electricity users are working and we have only been able to achieve this because our electricity assets, unlike other states, remain publicly-owned.

Prices for electricity have now fallen in the last two quarters – the first quarterly falls in electricity prices in Brisbane.

a $50 annual rebate over the next two years, as a dividend for customers from the publicly-owned electricity businesses.

Almost every SEQ electricity retailer has signed up to the Affordable Energy Pledge – to pass on all the savings to consumers that the government is making in our publicly-owned electricity system. I also encourage south east Queenslanders to shop around and choose the electricity retailer that offers the best deal.

Further proof that we are on the right path has also come from the Queensland Competition Authority, which flagged prices to drop in regional Queensland by up to 4.3 per cent following their draft determination. A final determination will be released on 31 May.

If the final decision reflects the draft, regional households could expect to see a 2.3 per cent drop in their annual power bill in the next financial year, or an average of $35.

Regional small businesses could see a drop in their power bill of 4.3 percent, or $110.

Our Affordable Energy Plan continues to provide cost of living relief, including the EasyPay Rewards of $75 for regional households and $120 for regional small businesses if they adopt Ergon Energy’s monthly direct debit billing.